Chapter 4: The Meeting Part 2

By: A Midsummer Night’s Dreamer

In all the years of his existence, Phil had thought that he had seen all there was in the world of the magical and supernatural. After all, what could be weirder (not to mention unsettling) than having your own sister dying of a terminal disease and then turned into a vampire by her… err… soulmate and tried to bite you when she rose from the dead?

He was obviously wrong.

* “Come on Phil! It’ll be fun! I promise, they’re really nice people!” Poppy, the ever-insistent sister, had followed him around for days saying the same thing over and over.

He had tried to retort in vain, “I’m not going to fit in and you know it, I’m not one of them.” To tell the truth he was a little curious about this new organization that had sheltered Poppy and her... soulmate, Phil cringed at that word, he just can’t imagine having James around his little sister all the time.

“Don’t worry about that! There’re people who’re human there, and some of them are really friendly! Please, please Phil, I would be very happy if you came.” Poppy had said in that sweet little girl voice and pouted.

He’d like to say that he was immune to that, but that would be lying. Although he did let Poppy beg just a little while longer before giving in. After all, he had thought, what harm could it do to meet some new people? *

Now that he thought about it, there were a great number of harms that could come with meeting new people.

Especially this particular group of people who could no doubt tore his throat out in less than five seconds without getting their hands dirty.

Ever since he’d agreed to come with Poppy to “just get acquainted with everyone”, he’d been having these weird dreams. You know, the kind that you don’t remember anything but a feeling, which, in this case, is the feeling that something’s about to change his life forever.

Phil did not like that feeling, he liked his life as it is. “Go ahead and call me a conservationist,” he had said to Poppy on their way to Las Vegas, “but I happen to like my life and I’d prefer if it stayed this way, thank you very much.”

His sister, as usual, was ignorant of his wishes, “Come and socialize,” she urged him, “You’ll meet a lot of great people, I promise! Who knows, maybe there might even be that special someone this time.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” muttered Phil.

He must admit, he was impressed with the mansion, the last time they came here he had climbed on the balcony, and it really wasn’t the time to admire the fine structure when his sister was in danger of being executed. But this time, they came as guests, Phil could see the magnificent house up close, it was enormous! Black roses grew on the lawn and the same black flower design adorned the windows and the double door that was the main (and proper) entrance.

The first person that Phil saw was a pretty blond girl with soft brown eyes. She and Poppy were obviously good friends and she didn’t look very dangerous to him. That was a good first impression, he liked Thea instantly, and she didn’t seem like the kind that would try to bite his neck.

Then came the girl with the mysterious smile. The girl who shook his hands and had—literally—shocked him speechless. The girl’s wardrobe had scared him a little. She dressed like someone who is dangerous and seductive and Phil’s instincts were telling him to stay away from her. But in order to show that he was as civil as the rest of them, he had—reluctantly—offered to shake her hand. Phil had known from the looks that she gave him that she was interested, and after hearing his sister introducing the girl—Blaise—as a witch, he was half-expecting her to do something weird—maybe putting a charm on him.

He was definitely NOT prepared to find himself being struck by lightning, surrounded by a bright light and feel absolutely content with it. He felt like he was floating in clouds, and they were changing colours constantly. Through the smoky clouds, he saw the silhouette of someone, a girl with long black hair. For some reason he wanted to get closer, but then something snapped, and the girl vanished.

Half-dazed, Phil tried to get a better look at the girl, what was her name again? Oh yeah, Blaise. She was just as confused as he was, a bewildered look was in her eyes as she murmured something that sounded like “nice to meet you too” and retreated to the back. Phil got a glimpse of long, shiny dark hair and smoldering gray eyes before the blond girl—Thea—pulled him forward to meet the other people.

The next couple of minutes went by like a blur, he remembered all these people, looking at him with expressions ranging from sheer curiosity to downright boredom. He shook hands with every one of them and repeated the greeting phrase over and over again until he wasn’t sure what it sounded like anymore. Then he was shown to his room where he was finally left alone for a couple of minutes.

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“You know,” Poppy flopped down on the big mattress in her and James’ room, “I think Phil really does like this place.” She ran a hand through her coppery curls and made a face when it got tangled in the mess, looks like a shower is in order.

“How can you tell?” James asked from the floor where he was unpacking one of the luggage.

“I’m psychic, remember? Besides, did you see the look on his face when he saw Blaise?” Poppy got off the bed and set about finding her hairbrush.

“You mean, when he looked like the deer that got caught in the headlight?” James grinned, “Yeah, of course, I wished I had camera with me at that time though. Here, are you looking for this?” He fished out a hairbrush from the traveling bag and handed it to Poppy.

“Thanks!” Poppy smiled at him brilliantly and went into the bathroom to brush her hair.

“You’re welcome… Aha!” James said triumphantly as he pulled out his favorite CD—the new Ethnotechno release. He set it on the table poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher.

“Do you think Phil and Blaise make a good couple?” Poppy suddenly called out.

James almost choked on the water, “What? Phil and—Blaise? That’s crazy! Do you know what Blaise is like? She goes through guys faster than her clothes and they were usually left broken and battered and insane.”

A head full of messy coppery curls poked out of the bathroom, “Really? She didn’t seem that bad the last time I met them. She was just… distant.” Poppy brushed back her hair.

“Believe me, you’re better off that way. The only time Blaise gets friendly with you for no reason is when she sees something of yours that she can play with.” James set down the cup. “Besides, we’re not the ones who need to worry, Phil has his own mind, he’ll figure out what is good for him.”

Poppy nodded and ducked back to the bathroom. “That’s too bad, you know. I was hoping that Phil could’ve find someone here.” She sighed, better to let events develop on their own. And pray that nothing out of the extraordinary would happen, a little voice inside of her head said.

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Phil stood in front of the mirror and blinked a few times. Nothing. Everything looked exactly the same. He rubbed his eyes and blinked again, then turned around to look at the room. The bed was there, covered in a dark green bedcover. The dresser looked normal enough, although it probably caused more money than the ones at his home. The table, the water pitcher and the chair all stayed right where they are. He looked down at his feet, brown, solid wooden floor. Everything looked… ordinary.

So it couldn’t have been his eyes playing tricks at him a few minutes ago, when he saw nothing but white mist after shaking hands with that girl, no—Blaise, he corrected himself.

“I’m probably just tired from the trip. Yep, jet lag, that’s what it was. Purely physical fatigue.” Phil said to himself aloud. “Nothing a few hours of sleep couldn’t fix.”

Apparently satisfied with his own explanation, Phil flopped down onto the bed and closed his eyes.